What's involved with assessment centres?
Assessment centres are often used by large organisations to find out more about you and to interview several people at once. They are either done on-site at the organisation’s office or at the office of the recruitment company. The main tip is to stand out from everyone else there - walk in there believing you’re the best and this will shine through to the interviewers! The majority of the day you’ll be doing work in groups so be prepared for a grueling day.
They often involved interviews, psychometric tests, role plays and presentations and usually are an all-day event. Ask the organisation before hand what will be involved before at the assessment centre so you can ensure you’re fully prepared.
Interviews:
For advice on interviews please read the 'Interview' section of the Jobs Category. However, often group interviews are also also used in assessment centres which involve a couple of interviewers and several people you’re up against. The interviews will often give a topic for all of you to discuss, often focused around what the organisation does. The trick here is to make sure you have your say (be assertive) but don’t speak over other people and not let anyone else have a word in. The interviewers are looking to see if you can work in a group, but are also looking for leaders of the conversation. It’s a difficult balance but it can be done - you need to ensure you speak and LISTEN (this is incredibly important).
Interviewers often ask some pretty random questions during the group interviews, asking you to introduce yourself and tell the group something that most people don’t know about you (i.e. you were an athletics champion when you were 15, or you are in a heavy metal band). This is your opportunity to stand out from the crowd and show another side to you.
Presentations:
You are often required to do presentations at assessment centres (this is where doing presentations come in handy as it’s great practice!). The presentations may be asking you to sell something, or to sell the person sitting next to you that you met about 5 minutes earlier! If this is the case they’ll give you a couple of minutes to speak to the person next to you to find out some info - the trick is to listen about their education, hobbies and any information which will be relevant to the job you are both applying to. When you give your presentation you can then speak about what qualities your new best friend has and how this will help them in the job they’re applying to.
Just remember - if you work hard at selling them to the company they’re likely to return the favour! Don’t try and stitch each other up - interviewers can spot this a mile off.
Psychometric tests:
Psychometric tests include a wide variety of aptitude and personality tests.
Aptitude tests assess whether you have the skills and numerical ability to do the tests - they focus on whether or not you can answer specific questions relating to the field you’re going into and the reasoning behind your answers. The enables the testers to understand how your mind works, and whether you’ll be right for the organisation. There are several companies online which allow you to practice taking aptitude tests - it’s a good idea to know what you’re in for before you take the real thing. The majority of UK universities will offer aptitude test training to give you some practice before you graduate.
Personality tests (unsurprisingly) focus on your personality. Tests vary greatly, from drawing pictures to answering questions on your feelings in particular situations and looking at personality traits. Whatever people say, organisations treat personality tests very seriously, If the personality test shows that you don’t have the necessary traits for the job your application will most certainly be rejected. Therfore you need to know on which traits you will receive low scores on with your current answers. Often you can adapt your answers to fit in with what you think the organisation is looking for. For example if you are applying for a sales job you don’t want to come across as a shy and timid student.
The purpose of personality tests is simple - to see if your personality matches the required job profile, which allows the organisation to see if you’ll be right for the job and fit into the organisation’s culture.
The best advice is to think about what traits the organisation is likely to be looking for for that particular job, and then try and show that you have these traits. As before the majority of UK universities will offer personality test advice to students, both undergraduate students and postgraduate students.
